Virgin Express

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"VEX" redirects here. For the VEX Robot kit, see Vex. For other uses, see Vex (disambiguation).
Virgin Express
IATA
SN		 ICAO
VEX		 Callsign
Virgin Express
Founded 1996
Hubs Brussels Airport
Fleet size 10
Destinations 24
Parent company SN Airholding
Headquarters Zaventem (Brussels), Belgium
Key people Neil Burrows (CEO); Etienne Davignon, chairman
Website: http://www.brusselsairlines.com/

Virgin Express was an airline which was created within the Virgin Group. It operated flights mainly to southern Europe from its hub at Brussels Airport. Ticket sales are mainly through the Internet. The airline has merged with SN Brussels Airlines to form Brussels Airlines which started operations on 25 March 2007 [1]

Contents

[edit] History

Virgin Express started on 23 April 1996, when the Virgin Group (with chairman Richard Branson) bought the Belgian leisure airline EBA (EuroBelgian Airlines) and rebranded it into Virgin Express.[2] It also took over EBA's fleet of Boeing 737's and has operated this type of aircraft ever since. The airline soon concentrated on low-budget scheduled flights out of its Brussels hub and became a major competitor for Sabena and later SN Brussels Airlines. In October 2004, the Virgin Group sold its assets to SN Brussels Airlines and both airlines were integrated into the parent holding company SN Airholding. On 31 March 2006, SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express announced their fusion into a single company, named Brussels Airlines. The combined airline added long haul destinations and strengthened its position in Africa. SN Airholding won the bid to take over the virtually bankrupt Cameroon national airline, Cameroon Airlines.[citation needed]

A Boeing 737-300 of Virgin Express
A Boeing 737-300 of Virgin Express

[edit] Fleet

The Virgin Express fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of August 2006) [3]:

Three Boeing 737-300 (OO-VEX, OO-VEG and OO-VEH) were fitted with winglets (March 2007). All the aircraft of Virgin Express have been painted in Brussels Airlines colours.

[edit] Destinations

[edit] At time of closure

Destinations at time of closure included: [4]

[edit] Prior to closure

Destinations prior to closure include:

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Airliner World January 2007
  2. ^ Company profile virgin-express.com
  3. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
  4. ^ Home Page on January 12, 2007, Virgin Express
  5. ^ "Destinations" of January 1, 2006, Virgin Express
  6. ^ a b Route Map of 2000, Virgin Express
  7. ^ a b c "Destinations" of October 13, 1999, Virgin Express
  8. ^ a b "Destinations" as of June 8, 2004, Virgin Express
  9. ^ a b Route Map of 2002, Virgin Express
  10. ^ "Destinations" of June 03, 2001, Virgin Express
v • d • e
Airlines of Belgium
v • d • e
Virgin Group
General
Travel
Publishing
and entertainment
Retail

Brides · Cars · Megastores (zavvi) · Spa · Ware